Washington: Embattled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has said he would stay on the job, carrying out the bank's mission to reduce poverty around the world.
''The bank has important work to do and I will continue to do it,'' he said at a news conference ending a meeting of the steering committee for the bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Development ministers from around the globe and top European officials have voiced ''great concern'' that Wolfowitz had tarnished the bank's reputation by helping to secure a high-paying promotion for his girlfriend, bank employee Shaha Riza.
''The current situation is of great concern to all of us,'' the top officials said in a communique issued after a meeting of the IMF-World Bank Development Committee.
''We have to ensure that the bank can effectively carry out its mandate and maintain its credibility and reputation as well as motivation of the staff,'' the ministers from World Bank member states said.
In answering questions about whether he should step down, Wolfowitz said he did not want any comments he made to get in the way of the board's work.
''I believe in the mission of this organisation, I intend to carry it out, I have had many expressions of support,'' he said.
Alison Cave, the head of the World Bank Staff Association, which represents 7,000 of the bank's Washington employees, said the group believes Wolfowitz should resign.
''We do not see how he can possibly regain the trust of the staff,'' she said.
Eric Guitierrez, a policy coordinator for ActionAid, an advocacy group, said it was hypocritical for the bank to take stands against corruption when its president is involved in a corruption scandal.
''It's time for the board to show Wolfowitz the door,'' he said.
Wolfowitz has been under pressure since it emerged that he secured a $193,590 job for Riza, at the US State Department soon after he joined the World Bank in 2005.
In an e-mail to bank staff Saturday night, some of whom have called for his resignation, Wolfowitz said he had remained largely silent as the bank's board of directors considered his future.
''I feel, however, that this has left a vacuum, which has largely been filled by misleading information'' and conceded the 109 pages of documents about the controversy released by the board are ''a lot to wade through for significant facts so I would like to call your attention to a number of them.''
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He attached excerpts that referred to his offer, when he became president of the bank two years ago, to refrain from dealings with Riza, who then worked in the bank's Middle East department. But The Washington Post said he did not include his lawyer's subsequent clarification that the offer did not include a ban on ''professional contact.'' A posting on the bank's Web site on Saturday included a link to the package of documents.
One of the architects of President George W Bush's Iraq war strategy, Wolfowitz has been working behind the scenes at weekend meetings of finance ministers and central bankers to drum up support to stay in his post.
The White House has said Bush has confidence in Wolfowitz.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the United States welcomed and supported an updated version of the bank's anti-corruption strategy developed under Wolfowitz's leadership. Since taking over, Wolfowitz has made anti-corruption efforts a priority, prompting concern from some of the board's European members that he was overemphasising the issue.
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